CES 2014-Samsung

Samsung has announced that it has entered into a decade-long agreement with Google that will see the two companies sharing their patent portfolios with one another.

Patent lawsuits have become a growing problem over the past few years, and now it seems at least two companies are trying to take care of that nuisance in a proactive manner. Samsung announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Google that will see the two companies sharing their current patent portfolios as well as any new patents either company files over the next 10 years.

“We’re pleased to enter into a cross-license with our partner Samsung,” said Allen Lo, Deputy General Counsel for Patents at Google. “By working together on agreements like this, companies can reduce the potential for litigation and focus instead on innovation.”

“This agreement with Google is highly significant for the technology industry,” said Dr. Seungho Ahn, the Head of Samsung’s Intellectual Property Center. “Samsung and Google are showing the rest of the industry that there is more to gain from cooperating than engaging in unnecessary patent disputes.”

Samsung did note that the agreement only covers certain fields, but it did not state which those might be.

Moves such as this should be applauded as courts around the world are currently choked with pesky lawsuits that do nothing to help further the march of technology. Hopefully there is a lesson here for other companies as well.